Insurance and Risk Manager
FRIEDMAN MANAGEMENT COMPANY · Corporate Office, Farmington Hills, Michigan, United States
The Insurance and Risk Manager serves as the organization's primary subject matter expert for insurance and enterprise risk management. This role leads corporate insurance programs, directs insurance-related claims management, and leads the organization's enterprise risk management (ERM) framework. The position works extensively with internal and external stakeholders, providing analysis, recommendations, and guidance on risk transfer, insurance coverage, enterprise risk matters, and organizational resilience initiatives. The Insurance and Risk Manager also supervises the Insurance Coordinator, manages key broker and carrier relationships, and serves as the organization's primary insurance and risk management representative.
This role supports a diverse real estate portfolio that includes owned, managed, and receivership engagements, many of which are distressed assets. The complexity of these assignments creates unique insurance and risk management challenges and provides an opportunity to make a meaningful impact by protecting the organization's risk posture, supporting client objectives, and helping navigate insurance and risk-related issues throughout the asset lifecycle.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Insurance Management
• Lead all corporate insurance programs, including property, liability, professional, management practices, workers' compensation, cyber, and other applicable coverages.
• Manage insurance renewals, underwriting, claims management, policy compliance, and coverage placement to protect the organization's operations and balance sheet.
• Lead insurance evaluation, placement, and compliance activities for receivership engagements, including distressed and transitional assets, ensuring adherence to court orders, lender requirements, servicing agreements, and other applicable obligations.
• Partner with the organization's insurance brokerage firm to coordinate insurance placement, claims strategy, risk assessments, loss prevention initiatives, market intelligence, and other advisory services that strengthen the organization's overall risk posture.
• Evaluate the organization's diverse exposures and recommend appropriate insurance coverage and risk transfer strategies.
• Serve as the primary insurance contact for internal stakeholders, clients, lenders, carriers, and other external partners, providing recommendations and resolving complex coverage issues.
Enterprise Risk Management
• Lead the organization's enterprise risk management framework, processes, and governance, with support from in-house legal counsel.
• Lead the organization's incident reporting and escalation processes for property and liability events, establishing accountability, training, and operational standards that support effective claim management, loss mitigation, and continuous risk improvement.
• Lead enterprise risk identification, assessment, mitigation, monitoring, and reporting activities.
• Partner with business leaders to identify, prioritize, and address key strategic, operational, financial, and compliance risks.
• Develop and maintain risk metrics and reporting for leadership.
• Promote a proactive risk culture through training, communication, education, and awareness initiatives across the organization.
Leadership and Supervision
• Supervise and develop the Insurance Coordinator, providing direction, coaching, performance management, and professional development.
• Delegate and oversee administrative insurance activities while serving as the primary resource for insurance analysis, negotiations, complex claims, and strategic recommendations.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Partner with in-house legal counsel on claims, contractual insurance and indemnification requirements, and risk mitigation matters, including review of insurance provisions during contract negotiations.
• Collaborate with Human Resources on employee-related insurance programs, workers' compensation, disability, leave-related claims, and related risk management activities.
• Partner with Finance to oversee the financial administration of the organization's insurance programs, including budgeting, premium allocations, audits, invoicing, carrier and broker payments, and cost recovery activities.
• Support the financial performance of the organization's insurance and receivership activities by overseeing insurance-related fee income, receivership billings, cost recovery efforts, and other revenue-generating services associated with insurance placement, compliance, and administration.
• Support business continuity, crisis management, and other organizational resilience initiatives.
Compliance and Governance
• Ensure insurance and risk management practices align with organizational objectives, contractual obligations, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain documentation, reporting, and governance processes supporting insurance and enterprise risk management activities.